The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, brainchild of Daniel Barenboim
and the late literary scholar Edward Said, is as much a state
of mind as it is a musical phenomenon. Listening to Daniel
Barenboim’s Reith Lectures on the BBC last year, it was clear
that the conductor’s intention was to cut through any stereotypical
or pre-conditioned ideas about certain peoples and cultures,
and the attitudes developed about them by historical events
and political cultivation. He clearly rejects the continuation
of an atmosphere of mistrust which makes the Middle and Near-East
a hotbed of unrest regarded by the rest of the world with
incomprehension or nervous unease. Anyone listening cannot
help but have impressed by the disarming way in which Barenboim
destroyed all arguments against the legitimacy of his aims
with the orchestra through simple logic and direct, rational
reasoning.

As a writer and musician I’ve sat among people
from more nationalities than I could name, and know what
happens if you sit an Israeli from Haifa opposite a Palestinian.
After the usual social sparring and finding of common ground,
of which there are almost invariably large amounts, they’ll
soon be exchanging jokes about anything from people’s accents
and the difficulties in learning Arabic and the pitfalls
of trying to speak it in different regions. They’re soon
laughing about a myriad of subjects, from eccentric parents
to pesky siblings – all of the things we ‘normal’ folk would
talk about in fact. The only danger is how quickly the rest
of us northerners are left out, looking on in fascination
and enjoying the quick-witted and amusing anecdotes, and
feeling rather parochial in face of all that globetrotting
worldliness.

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra is made up of young musicians
from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel. The name of
the orchestra is derived from a collection of poems by Goethe, ‘Divan’ being
in this context a council chamber or legislative assembly.
Goethe’s aim “to break free from the conditioning present
and to transport ourselves for a moment into a state of boundless
freedom in keeping with our feelings” is a very strong aspect
of the orchestra’s concept and programming, aiming to overcome
prejudice and achieve a state of being which is free of rancour.
While the orchestra continues to meet once a year from its
inception in 1999 the situation in the Middle and Near East
has not improved, and the annual rehearsals are currently
based in Seville.

This concert took place on a hot evening on 20 August 2006
in the world-heritage site of the Alhambra Palace in Granada.
The circular arena in which the concert was held is open
to the sky, and is a space which is both grand and intimate
at the same, the sound quality being very good and the atmosphere
tangible. The audience is well-behaved and well filtered,
the only coughs being distant and muffled. As Werner Pfister
rightly points out in the booklet notes, the music always
comes first, and there is no reason to see this DVD as dutiful
support of a noble cause. While there is the occasional mild
intonation ‘moment’ you almost invariably find with a genuine
live concert recording, the playing is always to a very high
standard, and the musicians clearly hold Barenboim in the
highest regard and with the greatest of respect. There are
many shots from in front of the conductor, showing his communicative
powers, his sense of nuance both musically and as a ‘manager’ of
the band – encouraging and drawing the best from his musicians,
but making no compromise in terms of style or interpretative
detail.

While on the subject of camera work, the direction
is in general well thought-through, with plenty of variety
of angles without giving anyone sea-sickness, and in fact
with some nice moments, such as when the image opens out
along with the music through the simple device of a camera
moving from behind a pillar. There are no pretentious effects
and few errors, just one where you see a clarinet, who is
at that moment in fact doubling far more audible horns, and
the poor horn soloist in the ‘big solo’ in the last movement
hardly gets a look in. The concentration on the music and
musicians is only broken by views of the audience during
applause, and you certainly get a fine sense of the good
natured and special atmosphere of the occasion.

Beethoven’s Leonora Overture No.3 very much becomes
the symphonic poem its thematic diversity suggests, with
plenty of dramatic weight and subtle dynamics. We never get
to see the off-stage trumpeter, but the whole thing is highly
involving and superbly played. I’ve never been a great fan
of Bottesini in general or romantic virtuosity-lead double
bass solos in general, but orchestral member Nabil Shehata
proves himself a more than capable soloist in the Fantasia
on themes by Rossini. The arrangement with cello as the
other soloist does ease the pressure a little, but the two
players still have their work cut out for them. Having the
triangle player at the front of the orchestra is a nice touch,
but the rest of the orchestra does seem to be a good deal
lower in the recorded level than for the rest of the concert – some
of the wind playing almost vanishing in the mix.

On to the main feature, which is Brahms’s Symphony No.1.
Barenboim may or may not be making or emphasising a point
with this music, but the hard-won struggle which the composer
himself had with the creation of his first symphony certainly
comes across effectively. The first movement has a measured
pace, with not a grace note or passing theme which gets the
full weight of emphasis. The Allegro may be a bit
more non troppo than some readings, but Barenboim
makes up for any dearth of virtuoso spectacle by digging
deeper than many others. This is not a stodgy or overly heavy
reading of the score, but the drama comes out of the orchestration
and the various characters in each theme. I bet some of you
might not even realise there was a double-bassoon
in there: after this you’ll certainly never forget it. You
can just imagine him rehearsing certain sections, getting
the violins to sing the rising counter-theme like the call
of someone lost in the wilderness, the darkness of some of
the bass lines – passion, pain and paradise exiting together
in that one incredible movement.

The Andante sostenuto second
movement has some lovely wind solos, and the warmth and expressive
playing from the strings comes through well, although I was
a little less enamoured of the leader’s vibrato in the rather
overly spot-lit solo. The more relaxed, chamber-music like
moments in the Scherzo show how well in control Barenboim
is – he hardly needs to ‘conduct’ at such moments, allowing
trust in the sensitivity of the musicians to take charge.
The final movement is a joy of sustained structure and well-timed
moments of restraint and exuberance. As the daylight fades
over the auditorium the music seems to come ever more into
life, and reprises and recapitulations are never mere repeats – the
energy seems to grow each time, and one can’t help feeling
that Barenboim and Brahms are in full agreement. There is
certainly no hamming up of any of the more significant moments,
including that vital penultimate brass chorale, and the intensity
remains white hot to the end.

The other tracks on the DVD are some straight promotion with
trailers of some other recordings by Barenboim and, for some
reason, one by Abbado. There’s also a picture gallery with
some nice views of the palace, and the setting up and rehearsal
on the afternoon before the evenings concert – nothing too
spectacular, and perhaps just a small shame there is no word
from Barenboim on the subject of the orchestra. All things
considered this is a very fine release by any standards.
The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra prove themselves to be far
beyond being a mere novelty, and while there may be arguments
as to why this recording of Brahms’s 1st Symphony
won’t knock others from your shelves, you may find it ever
harder to come up with them the more you listen to this performance.

Forty years after the Six Days War, I certainly don’t underestimate
the issues which exist in the Middle-East. If people from
these nationalities can come together to work so hard and
create such marvellous music together, we are however left
wondering why something so easy as deciding not to kill each
other is so difficult to achieve.

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